An interview of V. V. Rankine conducted 1990 Mar. 2-22, by Liza Kirwin, for the Archives of American Art.
Rankine discusses the evolution of her nickname, V.V.; discovering her dyslexia; growing up in Boston; auditioning for a part in, "The Philadelphia Story"; her art studies with Amedee Ozenfant from 1944 to 1946; her studies at Black Mountain College with Josef Albers and Willem De Kooning in 1947; her friendship with Morris Louis and watching him work; living with her brother-in-law Arshile Gorky, in New York City; her first one-woman show at the David Herbert Gallery in New York in 1962; exhibiting at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York and at the Jefferson Place Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Robert Richman and the Institute of Contemporary Arts; the relationship between her painting and her sculpture; favorite shapes and materials; and her summer home in East Hampton and artist friends there. Rankine also recalls Robert Rauschenberg, Jack Youngerman, Manoucher Yektai, Betty Parsons, Ibram Lassaw, Buckminster Fuller, Elaine De Kooning, Arthur Penn, Richard Leopold, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Ken Noland, Morris Louis, Ray Johnson, Kenneth Snelson, David Hare, Frederick Kiesler, Raphael Soyer, Moses Soyer, Jean Renault, Agnes Gorky, Esther Magruder, James Johnson Sweeney, Jim Brooks, John Graham, Phillip Guston, Duncan Phillips, Theresa Helburn, Augustine Duncan, Tom Downing, Gene Davis, Alice Denney, Nesta Dorrance, Kevin Merrill, Sam Gilliam, Dylan Thomas, Kay Halle, Kit Kennedy, Naum Gabo, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Anne Truitt, Wretha Nelson, Franz Bader, Louise Nevelson, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Bonnie Newman, Alexander Russo, Walt Sheridan, Gilbert Kinney, Saul Sherman, Steve Pace, Lee Krasner, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
V.V. Rankine (1920-2004) was a painter and sculptor from Washington, D.C. Variable forms of the artist's name are notably E. R. (Elvine Richard) Rankine, Vivian Scott Rankine, and her married name, Mrs. Paul Scott.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 53 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
An interview of Alison Knowles conducted 2010 June 1-2, by Judith Olch Richards, for the Archives of American Art's Elizabeth Murray Oral History of Women in the Visual Arts Project, at Knowles' home and studio, in New York, N.Y.
Knowles speaks of her family background; her father's (an English professor) influence on her education; her love of nature and isolation as a young girl; her French studies at Middlebury College; her transfer to Pratt Institute to study art; the social and academic environment at Pratt; her inclinations towards abstraction; her first marriage to Jim Ericson; her first studio at 423 Broadway; her early jobs as a commercial artist; her first gallery show at Nonagon, in 1958, and how she subsequently burned the paintings in that show; her second marriage to Dick Higgins in 1960; her Judson Gallery Show in 1962 and how she subsequently discarded those works; her involvement in the Fluxus group; her involvement with the "Cage class," and its early performances; her collaboration with John Cage on the book, "Notations" (1968); her collaboration with Marcel Duchamp on a print (1967); the circumstances surrounding her performance piece, "Make a Salad" (1962), her travels through Europe with Higgins; the birth of her twins; her computerized poetic piece and installation, "House of Dust" (1967) and how it was later vandalized; her move to Los Angeles to teach at CalArts; the rebuilding of "House of Dust" at CalArts; her move back to New York; the processes leading up to several projects and collaborations including "Loose Pages," "Big Book," "Bread and Water," and more; where she finds her inspiration; her thoughts on performance art; her studio environment in Barrytown, N.Y.; the influence and support of Germany on her work and Fluxus in general; her recent work, including "Identical Lunch"; and current challenges she faces as an artist.
She recalls Richard Lindner, Adolph Gottlieb, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Judy Chicago, Josef Albers, Dorothy Podber, Ray Johnson, Dick Higgins, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, Klaus Schöning, Jon Hendricks, Gilbert Silverman, George Maciunas, George Brecht, Jack Mac Low, Yoko Ono, Mieko Shiomi, Takako Saito, Joe Jones, Marcel Duchamp, Daniel Spoerri, Richard Hamilton, Nam June Paik, Charlotte Moorman, Helmut Becker, Coco Gordon, Jim Tenney, Cornelia Lauf, Rirkrit Tirvanija, Allan Kaprow, Simone Forte, Carolee Schneemann, Richard Teitelbaum, Miriam Schapiro, Miguel Abrau, James Fuentes, Cyrilla Wozenter, Kathy Kuehn, Ryszard Wasko.
Biographical / Historical:
Alison Knowles (1933- ) is an artist and a founding member of Fluxus in New York, N.Y. Judith Olch Richards (1947- ) is a former director of iCI in New York, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 5 mini discs. Duration is 5 hr., 45 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
A compendium of interviews for a project created by Kit Schwartz consisting of responses by 45 artists to the statement "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones" and responses from 90 artists to the question "Describe yourself as a person." Materials include sound recordings and corresponding transcripts of each response in two scrapbooks. Participants include Carl Andre, Arman, Robert Arneson, Sarah Charlesworth, Dan Graham, Ray Johnson, Ivan Karp, Joseph Kosuth, Nam June Paik, Andy Warhol, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner, and others. Also included is a folder of background information on the project. The project was exhibited under the name "A New Portrait: A Semiographic Representation of Art During the Seventies" at the Marianne Deson Gallery, Ontario, Canada and the O.K. Harris Gallery, New York.
Biographical / Historical:
Kit Schwartz is a female author from Chicago, Illinois.
Provenance:
Transferred 2015 by Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery Library via Anne Evenhaugen, Librarian.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Primarily correspondence, mail art, and printed material documenting Esman's career and her personal and professional relationships with artists Ray Johnson, Rufino Tamayo, Jacques Lipchitz and others.
REEL 4861: Included are: a resume; letters, 1936-1979 from Ulla and Jacques Lipchitz, James Johnson Sweeney of the Guggenheim Museum, Ben Shahn, Chaim Gross, and museums, galleries, publishers, and associations regarding personal relationships, travel, exhibitions, and sales. One file on Rufino Tamayo contains letters from Tamayo to Esman and printed material, 1956-1971, and two files contain undated mail art from Ray Johnson to Esman and others. Printed material, 1932-1980, includes exhibition announcements and catalogs, clippings, and autographed Abraham Walkowitz exhibition catalogs, 1944-1950. Photographs, many taken by Vernon Samuels, Esman's husband, are of Esman, friends, artists and works of art. Original works of art include handpainted cards from Yasu Kobashi, 1970, 1976 and undated, and an undated woodcut print by Tamayo.
ADDITION: A resume; five figure drawings by Esman, 1926-1928 and ca. 1939-1945; photographs, including 7 of Esman with Jacques Lipchitz and his family taken by Samuels, 3 of the old sculpture garden at MoMA, a signed photograph of Tamayo, 2 of Esman in her studio, and 2 of other artists taken by Samuels. Also included are a signed exhibition catalog, "Rufino Tamayo: Myth and Magic, and an article on Mexico's Tamayo Museum, Smithsonian Magazine, August 1975.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, collector, art patron; New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Material on reel 4861 donated 1986-1989 by Esman; it was microfilmed in 1994 with funding provided by the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund. The remainder was donated October 1994 by Esman.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art patrons -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Manny Silverman conducted 2004 December 10-11, by Ann Ayres, for the Archives of American Art, in Los Angeles, California.
Silverman discusses his Russo-Jewish parents and his childhood as an only child in Los Angeles; working as a social worker before starting at the Ernest Raboff Gallery as a research assistant; starting Art Services with Jerry Solomon; opening his own gallery on La Cienega Boulevard; his LA dealer contemporaries; moving his gallery to Almont Drive; Maurice Tuchman's exhibitions at LACMA; the critic's denigration of younger Abstract Expressionists; and ideas on how artists are influenced by other artists. Silverman also mentions the political aspects of museums; his tastes in assemblage artworks; becoming involved in the Ray Johnson estate and how he handles the estates of the deceased artists he displays; his belief in the precedence of the artist's creation, not the ideas leading to the work; his anti-intellectual view of his profession; the positives and negatives of running a gallery with a narrow focus on Abstract Expressionism; the importance of classical art training, even for unconventional artists; the painting habits of certain Abstract Expressionists; Sam Francis's poster for George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign; his thoughts on various LA-based curators; the role of his wife in his gallery; his perceived overemphasis on the 1960s LA art scene; and society's values in regards to artwork. Silverman also recalls Paul Schimmel, Paul McCarthy, Rudi Gernreich, Philip Guston, Edward Dugmore, Klaus Kurtess, Paul Kantor, Joan Mitchell, Nicholas Wilder, Gerhard Richter, David Stuart, Shaun Regan, Al Ruppersberg, Russell Ferguson, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Manny Silverman (1941- ) is an art dealer from Los Angeles, California. Anne Ayres (1936- ) is a curator from Los Angeles, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 37 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Two collages by Johnson; an illustrated letter to Sylvia Wilkinson Murphy, editor of the MICHIGAN ART JOURNAL, May 6, 1976; a photograph of William Carlos Williams' hand; and printed material concerning the New York Correspondence School, 1970-1981.
Biographical / Historical:
Collage artist and painter; Locust Valley, New York. In 1962 Johnson founded the New York Correspondence School, a one-man art movement.
Provenance:
Donated 1976 and 1981 by Ray Johnson.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Biographical information; teaching and student files; correspondence; exhibition files, as well as a guestbook from a 1977 show of Greenstone's work at the Sixth Estate gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y.; works of art; scrapbooks; writings; grant applications; financial material; printed material, and motion picture film regarding the career of Marion Greenstone as an abstract expressionist painter and an educator. Biographical information includes diplomas from the Cooper Union Art School, the Columbia's Teacher's College and Brooklyn College as well as Greenstone's student identification card from the Università Italiana per Stranieri, in Perugia, and faculty identification cards from various years at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y. Teaching and student files include notes on courses taught as Associate Professor of Art at the Pratt Institute, and on courses taken at various New York City institutions.
Correspondence is with with family, friends, and associates, including fellow artists Ray Johnson and Joseph Raffael among others. Art work includes sketchbooks and miscellaneous sketches and drawings of mural ideas by Greenstone. Writings consist of travel diaries from trips to England, France, Italy, Ireland, Morocco, Canada, and the western United States as well as miscellaneous notes by Greenstone about her life and work. Also included is a short film created by Greenstone entitled "Dentist" incorporating original and found footage and hand-painting techniques, two short reels of film outtakes, and Greenstone's notes about the film.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and educator, N.Y. Greenstone painted in the Abstract Expressionist style and taught at the Pratt Institute of Art for many years.
Provenance:
Donated 2007 by Cora Hahn, Greenstone's sister.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
An interview of Ray Johnson conducted 1968 Apr. 17, by Sevim Fesci, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Ray Johnson (1927-1995) was a painter from Locust Valley, N.Y.
General:
An interview of Arman (4/22/68) conducted by S. Fesci is also on this tape.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Topic:
Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- Interviews Search this
A digital audio recording of an interview with William Wilson conducted by Jonathan Katz in 2012. Wilson talks about his relationships in the art world including Ray Johnson, Andy Warhol, Valerie Solanis, his mother May Wilson, and many others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jonathan Katz is the director, Visual Studies Doctoral Program, Department of Art, University at Buffalo, New York.
Provenance:
Donated 2018 by Jonathan Katz.
Restrictions:
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services. Use of born digital records with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Authorizatin to publish, quote or reproduce must be obtained from Lenore Seroka.
Occupation:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- Great Neck Search this
An interview of Richard Lippold conducted 1971 Dec. 1, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art. Lippold speaks of his family background and early life in Milwaukee; his early interests in art and music; early teachers; the impact of the Chicago World's Fair; studying industrial design at the Chicago Art Institute; designing machinery for an engineering firm; his travels in Mexico, Germany, and France; teaching at various institutions; his early sculptures; the development of his stylle; materials he uses; architectural commissions. He recalls Emiel Zettler, William R. Valentiner, John Cage, Jean Arp, Josef Albers, Ray Johnson, and Naum Gabo.
Biographical / Historical:
Richard Lippold (1915-2002) was a sculptor from Locust Valley, N.Y.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hrs., 7 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
56 items, almost entirely printed matter, consist of exhibition catalogues, announcements, books, pamphlets, newsletters, flyers, broadsides, calendar, prospectus cards, clippings, and posters generated by central and orbital figures associated with Fluxus: Allan Kaprow, Charlotte Moorman, Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, George Maciunas, Peter Moore, and Richard Kostelanetz.
Biographical / Historical:
Wilentz was proprietor of the Eighth Street Bookshop; New York, N.Y.
Provenance:
Donated 2000 by Ted and Joan Wilentz. The papers arrived through Ted Wilentz's appraiser, William Morgan, who also signed the Deed of Gift.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
1 Reel (ca. 220 items (on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
1959-1969
Scope and Contents:
Ca. 200 personal letters and notes to Ultra Violet from John Graham, Ray Johnson, and John Chamberlain; a few photographs of Graham and Johnson; a few sketches by each of the three artists; and miscellaneous clippings, magazine articles, and exhibition announcements.
Biographical / Historical:
Actress; New York, N.Y. Born Isabelle Collin DuFresne.
Provenance:
Lent 1970 by Ultra Violet.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
